Page 62 of Work with Me

Alicia mouthed,Role model,behind his back.

Fuck. “Um, looking good.” I scratched my own beard.

“Thanks, man.” Tyler crossed to the center island and lingered in the kitchen like an old-fashioned chaperone, getting himself a napkin and taking his time making his selection from the fruit bowl.

Alicia strode to the coffee station and stood next to me to prepare her morning tea. I inhaled the herbal scent of her hair swinging next to her ear.

“You’re wearing your hair down today,” I murmured. Had I told her I loved it down? Had she done it for me?

She grimaced and drew the curtain of it away from her neck, where a red rash bloomed.Beard burn,she mouthed silently.

“Oh, fuck,” I said loud enough for Tyler to look up from the fruit bowl. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

She flashed me a quick smile. “Worth it,” she whispered.

My chest swelled. Our code review could’ve crashed and burned later that morning, and I’d still have been the happiest guy in Austin. But we had an audience, so, to hide my grin, I looked down at the ibuprofen still in my hand, the orange coating starting to melt onto my skin. I popped the pills into my mouth and washed them down with coffee.

“You’re not hungover, are you?” Alicia asked quietly, still dunking her tea bag.

“No, just a little twinge from a bike ride yesterday.” I wiped my hand on my jeans.

“Are you all right? Do you need ice, or a heating pad?”

Yes, please. Make me lie down on a couch in a dark room, and kiss it better.

Tyler snorted and muttered something about “old bones.”

“No, I’m good.” To prove it, I hobbled across the kitchen and flicked the back of Tyler’s head.

“Ow!” he yelped, feigning injury.

“Jay, what’s going on?” Cooper stood tall and straight in the kitchen doorway.

Fucking perfect, leave it to Cooper to catch me acting like a twelve-year-old.“Nothing. Just bonding with my teammate.” I gripped Tyler around the shoulders and rubbed my knuckles into his hair.

“Let’s try to bond without physical contact.” Cooper’s smile was tight.

Tyler and I both froze. Slowly, I released him. He took a step away and combed his fingers through his hair.

“You okay, Tyler?” Cooper asked.

“’M fine,” he mumbled.

“Good.”

Tyler scurried out of the kitchen. Alicia started to follow him, but Cooper stopped her by saying, “Good morning, Alicia.”

“Morning, Cooper. Did you have a nice flight?”

“I did, thanks.”

Their small talk was making me sweat. Would Cooper see the beard burn on Alicia’s neck and somehow know the beard in question had been mine? Would he pick up on the sexual tension zapping between the two of us? I needed air. And for the three of us never to be in the same room again.

When I calmed my breathing and tuned back into their conversation, Cooper was saying, “Jay and I went for a ride yesterday at Barton-something.”

“Barton Creek. You biked at the greenbelt?”

“We did, though this guy overdid it a little.” Cooper chuckled and gave me a fond smile. “Feeling better today?”

---